On paper, Denmark were the clear favourites, but that paper was ripped up after Austria held a lead for eight of the first 11 minutes in their Women's EHF EURO 2022 Qualifier on Thursday. However, they failed to maintain their rhythm for the whole 60 as the Scandinavian powerhouse came through to secure a nervous five-goal victory.

GROUP 2

Denmark vs Austria 27:22 (12:11)

• Denmark had last lost in the Women's EHF EURO Qualification back in March 2016, but survived an early scare, going in at half-time 12:11 up
• Defence played a crucial part in the game with Denmark’s Althea Reinhardt having a superb match in goal as Austria were limited to just 22 strikes, their lowest output since October 2015 in a Women’s EHF EURO Qualification Phase game
• The decisive run for Denmark came in the first 10 minutes of the second half, when Austria could not score and Denmark went on a 4:0 scoring run to extend their lead to five goals
• The Danes secured their fourth consecutive win against Austria, with the latest Austrian win coming at the 2005 IHF Women’s World Championship, 42:35
• Left back Mie Hojlund was Denmark’s top scorer, with five goals

A new Austrian generation is ready to put up a fight

Eyeing their first Women’s EHF EURO berth since 2008, Austria put up a serious fight at times against Denmark, underlining a new generation nurtured by long-standing coach Herbert Muller.

While frustrated by the excellent game from Danish goalkeeper Althea Reinhardt, Austria looked strong enough to challenge against Romania in their upcoming game on Sunday as a three-way battle develops for the two qualifying berths across the next five rounds of matches.